How-To

How to Restrict Who Can Log On Your Google Chromebook

By Brian Burgess

Last Updated on June 15, 2021

Sharing your Chromebook is easy as anyone with a Google account can log in, or use the Guest Account. You can also restrict log in rights to specific users.

A Chromebook is easy to use, and by default, it allows anyone with a Google account to log in and start using it. The other users don’t have access to your stored data – just what’s in their Google account. While there is a Guest account that lets friends and family use it, even without a Google account, you might want to restrict the ability to log in to specific users.

Restrict Chromebook Access and Manage Users

Only the owner of the Chromebook can restrict users. The owner account is the first user you set up which should be you. Log in and go to Settings.

Then scroll down to the User section and click the Manage Other Users button. To improve the overall security of your device, you should also tick the “Require a password to wake from sleep” box.

Now check the box next to “Restrict sign-in to the following users” and clear any users you don’t want to have access.

After selecting this option, you’ll still see the Add User button on the sign-in screen, but it will be grayed out and not function. If you want to add a user, later on, you’ll need to uncheck the restrict sign-in box, add the user, then check it again.

If you still want people to borrow your Chromebook, leave Guest browsing enabled. This lets a person use the Chromebook to surf the web, but no history or downloaded files will be saved. Everything is cleared when they log out. This is a lot like using incognito mode with the Google Chrome browser on other platforms.